In “Lars and the Real Girl,” Ryan Gosling plays a shy, handsome, yet delusional young man named Lars. Lars lives in the detached garage of the house he grew up in while his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his brother’s pregnant wife Karin (Emily Mortimer) live in the main house. Though they live in close proximity, they live very separate lives. Karin constantly tries to get Lars to open up to them, but she literally has to tackle him to get him to come over for dinner.
Things seem to be stuck in a rut until someone new moves into town, a young woman named Margo (Kelli Garner) who sings in the church choir and wears barrettes in her hair. It seems Lars may have met the perfect match; unfortunately, his heart belongs to someone far less animated.
Lars orders a sex doll named Bianca from the Internet and believes her to be real. He introduces her to his family, his friends and his coworkers as if Bianca were really his girlfriend. This joke actually stays funny throughout the length of the film as writers keep finding new people for Lars to introduce his doll to, and so the audience keeps getting more horrified faces to laugh at.
At first out of shock, and then out of love and concern for Lars, his brother and sister-in-law and then the rest of the town play along with the insane scenario and treat Bianca like a real girl. And it is in fact a little strange how accepting the town is of Lars and his doll. The explanation that they all love Lars so much that they want him to be happy rings true for those members of the community who have known Lars for a long time, but it is still unclear why Margo, the new girl, still shows interest in him.Lars is certainly good-looking, but not enough for any sane person to overlook his delusion. The film does not delve into the psyche of Margo, which in some ways leaves a gap in the plot, but also makes the statement that everyone is crazy in their own way, and from the outside, there is no way to tell exactly why.
However, the movie does try to explain Lars’s troubles as being a method for him to deal with his grief. Lars and Gus had a rough childhood. Their mother died when they were young and their father lately followed. The brother moved on, put it behind him, but Lars has not yet done the same. His desire for the lifeless to live is manifested in his love for the doll, which won’t change and won’t die.
Lars places human traits on his beloved: He believes she loves him back and believes she gets cold and tired. But as he believes her to be real, he is also unable to keep from imagining her ill and in pain and unhappy. He innately knows he can’t pick and choose the parts of life his wants, though he tried when he ordered his custom girlfriend. Lars wants to live in the real world, and the film follows him as he realizes he has to take all parts of life, both the good and the bad.
““ Amy Crocker
E-mail Crocker at acrocker@media.ucla.edu.